Crumbs Baker Picking up the Pieces

Melita Bakery Struggles After Cupcake Empire Crumbles

In a commercial bakery in the South Bronx, Emanuel Darmanin walked past a row of empty metal workstations. Just weeks ago, he said, workers lined the tables each afternoon to frost and decorate hundreds of sugary confections.

He passed a cart piled with vanilla cupcakes, each cooling in a paper "Crumbs Bake Shop" wrapper. Even though the cupcake chain closed its doors weeks earlier, Mr. Darmanin, whose bakery supplied to Crumbs, was still trying to dispose of a mountain of batter.